Straight-forward design recommended for voluntary use by CME providers in order to comply with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s (ACCME) recent ban on the use of corporate logos, while ensuring transparency of commercial support.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 247-6301

Today, the CME Coalition released a proposed design template for the disclosure of commercial support on CME materials. This design template, which is intended as a voluntary guide for use by CME provider organizations, is intended to abide the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s (ACCME) ban on the use of corporate logos, while still providing commercial supporter transparency.

In particular, the proposed design, consists of a white rectangular box located in the upper right corner of the material, that is outlined in thin black, with plain black text. The name of the commercial supporter or supporters is identified in bold text.

The specifications used in the examples we have provided are as follows, although this is only offered as an option:

“The CME Coalition and its members are committed to ensuring that continuing medical education and accredited providers provide transparency with regard to the commercial support underlying their programs,” stated Senior Advisor Andrew Rosenberg, “and we believe that this template, which we encourage all stakeholders to adopt, represents a sensible way of accomplishing that goal.”Rosenberg continued, “Providing a standardized means of disclosure will increase learner awareness and allow CME providers and commercial supporters to handle this element of CME materials design more efficiently.”Recently, the ACCME's Board of Directors decided to adopt changes to the Standards for Commercial Support to prohibit the use of commercial interest logos in the acknowledgment of commercial support. Although the CME Coalition took issue with the Board’s decision, it is working hard to ensure that its members, and other stakeholders in the community, meet the new requirements.While the CME Coalition respects and recognizes the ACCME’s decision to ban logos, it remains committed to ensuring that commercial support for CME be made visible to learners. The proposed design template released today is intended to help CME providers and commercial supporters to do so in a relatively standardized manner.About the CME CoalitionThe CME Coalition represents a broad collection of continuing medical education provider companies, in addition to other supporters of CME and the vital role it plays in the US health care system. Its member organizations provide, manage and support the development of healthcare continuing education programs that impact more than 500,000 physicians, nurses and pharmacists annually. Graduation from medical school and completion of residency training are the first steps in a career-long educational process for physicians. To take advantage of the growing array of diagnostic and treatment options, physicians must continually update their technical knowledge and practice skills. CME is a mainstay for such learning.